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Chapter 63: At the Reception

Khushi reined in her grin and said comfortingly, “Never mind Di, I am sure he will understand,” she looked at the angelic figure of a sleeping Anya and said softly, “Waise bhi Anya looks happy and that is all that matters, hain na?”

Anjali’s expression softened and she vigorously nodded her head.

“Di, aap jaldi se ready ho jayeea, everybody will be here soon,” Khushi urged and turned to leave, near the door, she turned back and said mischievously, “Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone about whom you spent your SR with!”

Anjali threw a cushion at Khushi, who ducked and it hit Khsitij squarely on the face as he was standing at the door looking rather dizzy.

“Ahh Anjie, yeah I know that! Hi Chatanki, came to check if everything ok? I am going back to bed,” he stumbled a bit.

Worried, Khushi and Anjali helped him back to his room and took in the scene, the room was clean with no evidence of any SR decorations; they looked around and spied all the flowery decorations lying in a big pile beyond the French windows, “Kishu bhaiyya, what happened?”

Khsitij shook his head, still woozy from the medicines and late night sleep, “Nothing, not to worry, I am fine,” he waved his hands at the pile outside “My allergies flared up at such a high concentration of pollens and I had to take medicines to control it and now I am sleepy because of them.”

“Achcha achcha theek hai, you go back to sleep, you are not needed for any of the rasams now, Di you get ready quickly.” Khushi quickly took charge; her phone rang, it was Buaji informing her that they were on the way.

Di vanished and was ready in record time and stirring the kheer by the time everybody trooped in.

All the rasams went off fine and the house was again empty in a couple of hours. They barely had time to rest for a bit then it was time to go for their reception party to be held at a posh hotel.

Anjali was in a bit of a dilemma regarding the unpacking of her stuff; she wondered whether she should put away her necessities (which were considerable unlike KKGSR’s 😉 ) in Anya’s room or Khshitij’s room or even a third room; she very much doubted if Anya had adequate space in her cupboards which seemed overloaded with soft toys, books and clothes. She sighed and decided to live out of her suitcases till the issue was sorted out, which she hoped would be soon; she had been careful and far-sighted while packing her overnighter but the rest of the cases (numbering 10 😛) were packed in a first come first packed basis and it was rather tedious hunting for stuff in scattered haphazardly in the dark recesses of multiple cases. She dug out stuff to last a couple of days hoping for the best (not that she was particularly keen to shift rooms, just that her clothes deserved more respect, space and proper place at GM).

At the party, Anjali was introduced to Khsitij’s circle of close friends, she met so many people that she couldn’t distinguish one from the next and was quite dizzy and exhausted by the end of it all, and even her cheek muscles ached from all those hours of smiling sweetly.

The best thing about the reception was that Di got to meet her Chotte; she was relieved to see him quite relaxed, she cupped his cheek, “Chotte tum theek ho?” she asked affectionately.

“Haan Di.” Arnav nodded. “I should be the one asking you this!”

Anjali blushed and they both looked at Anya who was all dressed up in a fluffy pink frock, Arnav hid his grin and called, “Hey princess, how are you?”

Anya elegantly and sedately made her way towards them and then spoiled it all by skipping the last few steps and to everyone’s utter surprise flung herself into Arnav’s arms (err practice had made him perfect so he received the tiny bundle with considerable aplomb), “You are here! She exclaimed happily, “I hope you are happy to see your Di, look she is so happy! I told you I will take care of her; she wasn’t scared at all last night as she slept with me in my room; tonight, tomorrow night and always,” she averred.

Thankfully the latter bit was whispered in his ears (and presumably the reason for her rather impetuous jump into his arms). Arnav grinned widely and hugged her tightly before putting her down, he hi-fived her, “Thanks Anya for all your support and help,” he said blandly; he dipped into his suit pocket and drew out a bar of chocolate, “For you.”

Anya took them eagerly, “Thank you, how did you know I love chocolates!”

Arnav looked at Khushi, “Well, your bua is crazy about sweets so I thought…anyway let’s just say it was an educated guess, glad you like.”

Anya looked the bar more carefully and then said, “But I like the nutty ones better, so next time, get me….”

“Anya!’ Exclaimed a horrified Khsitij, “It’s bad manners to demand like that from him!”

“Why not?” Anya threw her arms around Arnav’s middle, “I have a double right with him! He is not only my ‘pooh paah’ but also my ‘mama’ so I can ask him for anything right CSR?” Anya confidently staked her double claim on Arnav.

Everybody was touched by Anya’s innocence and her obvious bond with Arnav.

Arnav swallowed and went down on his haunches and tapped her nose, “You are wrong sweetie, not a double right, a triple right,” he looked at Khushi, “You are such a copy of your bua! Here take my card and call me anytime anywhere and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” he looked at Khsitij challengingly as he handed Anya his business card; he stood up gracefully.

“And you will get your nutty chocolates tomorrow.” He promised. “My fault,” Arnav shrugged as he flicked a look at Khushi, “I should have guessed you liked nutty stuff better,” he winked at Anya.

The elite select gathering at the wedding reception were treated to the rare sight of the mighty and ruthless Arnav Singh Raizada run while a little vision in pink chased him around the huge hall; Khushi looked on, rooting for Anya and wishing she could also join the chase.